Gargoyles Pendragon: Camazotz
by Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: Sakura goes on her first Quest for the Knights of New Camelot. A journey to Guatemala to aid the Mayan clan in dealing with a threat to the Green. A vampiric threat...
1. Flesh and Blood

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **Camazotz**

 **Guatemala, November 2, 2004**

There was a cracking sound, and a single beam of light pierced the darkened cave. The stone that had blocked passage to this cavern for 456 years had at long last been removed. Two figures descended into the cave.

"Ha!" Professor Ezekiel Stone yelled. "I was right! There is a hidden chamber down here. I knew that there was more than just a ruined pyramid!"

He leapt down into the cave and flicked on his flashlight. There was a thrill running down his spine. For the first time in his career, he felt like Indiana Jones, investigating the tomb of a long lost artifact.

The centuries had not been kind to the pyramid above them. Near as he could figure it, it was abandoned sometime in the 1200s, and had been abandoned for 700 years. 700 years that had been very unkind to the pyramid and had crumbled it apart.

If the usual pattern held, the ancient Mayans had built five pyramids in these parts. One at each cardinal direction, and one in the center. The Center Pyramid, ChacIxchel, lay deep in the jungle, in a large tract of land owned by Cyberbiotics and designated by them as a nature preserve.

KawillAhPukuh lay almost 20 miles to the north, and had been severely damaged in the 1500s by Spanish Conquistadores. The Guatemalan government owned the land it was on, but Nightstone Unlimited had purchased the ruined pyramid itself at quite some expense. A venture that many indigenous Mayans and Archeologists were protesting, as it was becoming clear that Nightstone was planning on copying the actions of David Xanatos from a decade ago, and moving the pyramid—Like a certain 10th century Scottish Castle—To the Big Apple.

The remaining three pyramids were lost, deep in the jungle. Until a week ago, a banana farmer stumbled upon the easternmost pyramid, CamazotzKukulcan. It was right on the edge of his property, he'd just never realized it, because it was covered in creepers and vines, and a few small trees. The banana farmer had honestly thought that it was a big hill.

Professor Stone was already doing a field school dig in the area, and as an expert on Guatemalan Pyramids, he was called in to investigate.

It had taken him very little time to find the secret door into the cavern below.

He shined his flashlight around the room, examining the walls. Bats and Serpent carvings lined several Mayan statuary. Stone absently placed his hand on a sharp chunk of obsidian, jetting out of the wall.

"Ouch!" he yelped. He'd cut his palm.

"You all right, Professor?" Hector Jones, one of his students who had climbed down after him called.

"I'm fine lad," he said. "Look at this."

Stone shined his flashlight upon what appeared to be a large altar. Bound to the alter was the strangest looking statue that Stone had ever seen. Nine feet long, from head to tail; it was reptilian in appearance but its face was strange in that regard. A blend of snake and bat like features. The face was very serpentine, with an open maw revealing sharp cobra-like fangs. It's nose and ears, however, resembled those of a local vampire bat. Upturned and quite large.

It had arms, strapped to the sides of the altar, and a large pair of very bat-like wings upon its back, draped down over the sides of the altar. The cavern had clearly been undisturbed in some time. Erosion had done nothing to this statue, it was as sharply defined and clear as ever. The leather chords that had 'bound' the statue to the table, however, had rotted away several hundred years ago, and were barely a sliver over the statue's arms, wings, and serpentine waste.

"Take a look at this, lad!" Stone said. "This is incredible. I've never seen an altar like it. Morwood-Smyth is going to owe me a fine bottle of port, after this! And he thought that the so-called 'Scrolls of Merlin' were special. I've never seen an artifact anything like this altar, ever before in my life."

"What is it?" Hector asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, actually,' Stone said. "If I had to hazard a guess, this statue is some kind of bound god. The pyramid is called CamazotzKukulcan, after all. The bat-god and the serpent-god, together. Perhaps fused together—Like the Egyptians sometimes did-and bound on this altar somehow. Some Mayan belief that they could control the gods, control nature through this altar and ritual bloodletting. Feeding their god and giving him power."

"Like so," Stone said, taking his bleeding hand and dripping a few drops of blood from the wound into the statue's open mouth.

"And voila," Stone replied. "Our friend here gets his first meal in almost 500 years. Come now, lets return to camp. We can start cataloging this place in the morning…and taking lots of pictures of this altar. It's going to rewrite our books on early Columbian era Maya. But for now, the sun has almost set, and we've still quite a bit left to do."

The teacher and grad student climbed up their rope ladder, and departed the temple chamber. Forty minutes later, the sun had set outside the temple, and a lattice of cracks began to appear upon the surface of the statue, spreading rapidly across its stone body.

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 **New Camelot, Antarctica, November 5th, 2004**

Fleur walked out into the castle courtyard, a large thin box underneath her arm. She looked up at the two statues sitting on the parapets over the drawbridge, one on either side of the gatehouse.

The first statue appeared to be a heraldic griffin with a Mohawk, dressed in (stone) leather. The second statue was very feminine in appearance, but mostly resembled a winged Japanese _oni_ with wings.

Fleur casually leaned upon the third statue in the castle. A large, four-footed creature, which, annoyingly had turned to stone down in the courtyard instead of the parapets like he was supposed to. She waited patiently, quietly, as the artificial sun dipped behind the castle, and an artificial 'night' began to appear upon the massive dome above them.

A lattice of cracks began to appear on all three statues, and Fleur took her weight off of the one she had been leaning upon. With triumphant roars, the two gargoyles (and lone beast) of New Camelot awakened triumphantly atop the castle parapets.

Griff and Sakura glided down from their perches and landed next to the beast, a great big red beast with swept-back horns.

"Sakura," Fleur said, her French accent making the female gargoyle's Japanese name sound more flowery than usual. "Eet has come."

Fleur handed the Japanese gargoyle the box that she had been carrying.

"The Gassan Sadatoshi!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, without even having opened the box. She tore it open and pulled out a brand-new freshly made Japanese katana. She drew the sword from its sheath and tested the weight in her talons.

"It's perfectly balanced!" Sakura said.

"It was custom made to your exact specifications," Fleur said. "It should be _pas de surprise, non?_ "

"Still," she said. "Even Ishimuran swordsmiths—Who make katanas for us all the time, have such difficulty. This. This is even better than I expected."

" _Bon_ ," Fleur replied. "You can test it on your Quest."

"A quest!" Griff exclaimed. "We have a Quest?"

"Two quests, actually," Fleur said. "Both require gargoyles."

"So we will have to split up then," Sakura said, quietly.

"Oui," Fleur said. "The first quest is simple enough. There've been rumors circulating lately of gargoyles in China."

"Such rumors have circulated for years," Sakura said. "My clan attempted to follow the rumors, which is what led to my being captured by Quong Po, and imprisoned and ensorcelled for 57 years."

"Oui," Fleur said. "But you didn't have the knowledge that we do today. Namely that Brooklyn of the Manhattan Clan has been to the Chinese Clan's location. Or at least, their location as of the 12th century. He's given us a loose starting point. Who wants to take it?"

"What's the other Quest?" Griff asked.

"The Mayan clan has requested help."

"Damn," Griff exclaimed.

"What?" Sakura snapped her head and looked at Griff. "What's wrong with that?"

"The Mayan Clan does not care much for humans," Griff said. "Even humans that they like such as Elisa and King Arthur. If they're requesting help from us, the situation must truly be desperate."

"I will take this Quest," Sakura said, stepping forward. "The Mayans need us. It sounds the more difficult of the two Quests, and I have yet to prove myself and my worth to this cohort."

"On the contrary," Griff said. "Arthur chose you to be a knight. That's proof enough for all of us."

"Nevertheless," Sakura said. "I choose the Mayan quest."

"There's no standing stones near ChacIxchel," Fleur said. "At least, not yet. We'll have to get there the old fashioned way."

"Yes," Griff muttered. "Hovercrafts. So much more old fashioned than ancient magical teleportation network."

Fleur smirked at the gargoyle, but Sakura remained steel-faced.

"Griff," Fleur said. "You're the First Knight. You get pick of the Quests."

"I have no inclinations either way," Griff said. "Sakura can help the Mayans. I'm just a bit surprised that she doesn't want to finish what she started in '38 and find the Chinese clan."

"I am not overly eager to return to China," Sakura said. "And I chose the Mayans, because it already sounds the more difficult of the two tasks, and I thrive on difficulty."

"Fair enough," Griff said. "Take Shisa with you though. Poor bloke's been lonely ever since Rory and Barghest went back to Ireland for their three week spell."

The red colored beast whimpered and nuzzled against Sakura.

"You'll also need a second Knight at your side," Fleur said. "You know Arthur's rules. Both of you."

"I'm thinking Nick," Griff said. "I want a bit of a grounded scientific mind, if I'm to be hunting rumors and memories."

"Parvati," Sakura said, cloaking her wings and bowing. "I like the idea of having a tiger at my side in the coming battle."

"You know that she can only be a tiger for two hours per night, right?" Griff asked.

"Which is two hours more than you can become a tiger, Griff-sama," Sakura smirked back.

"Touché" Griff commented.

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 **Guatemala, September 22, 1548**

There was a cracking sound and the entrance to the cave beneath CamazotzKukulcan opened. Two gargoyles and a human leapt down into the cave entrance.

"We should not be down here," the male gargoyle said. He was dark bluish-green. His body was serpentine in nature, with a pair of bat-like wings attached to his back. His face was his most unusual feature, however. With large bat-like ears, and an upturned bat-like nose.

"Don't be such a hatchling, brother," the female said. She was quite a beauty. Scarlet red skin, with cobalt blue lining the interior of her wings. She had pterosaur-like wings and joint spurs on each of her limbs. She had long black hair and prominent crest ridges.

"Yeah, _Camazotz_ ," Three-Monkey, their human companion said. "Lighten up."

"I told you not to call me that!" 'Camazotz' protested. "Except for the Pendant Bearers, _Yu'ux, Ya'ax, Box,_ and _Kan_ , we _couatls_ do not use names. Names are for humans."

"I think he's taking the whole naming thing a bit too personally," Three-Monkey said. "Don't you think _Xnuk Ek_?"

'Xnuk Ek' was busy looking around the cavern. "Fascinating," she murmured to herself.

"We should go," 'Camazotz' said, attempting to climb the wall, his talon struck a sharp obsidian spike jutting out of the wall.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, jerking his talon back. "The clan will be missing us!"

"The clan is busy mating," 'Xnuk Ek' said. "They won't even notice we're gone until tomorrow night. And we'll be back before then. Why should we miss this perfect opportunity to explore and find out why CamazotzKukulkan was abandoned?"

All three of the explorers were quite young. Too young to be taking part in the mating flight that was happening back at ChacIxchel, the home-clan of the two Mayan Gargoyles. 'Camazotz' and 'Xnuk Ek' were 30 years old—The equivalent of fifteen-year old humans. And Three-Monkey, their human friend, actually was 15 years old.

There was a squeaking sound, and Three-Monkey drew his obsidian sword, while the two gargoyles flickered their eyes.

"It's just bats," 'Xnuk Ek' said after a beat.

"I _hate_ bats," 'Camazotz' said.

"But you look-," Three-Monkey started to say.

"Which is why I hate them!" 'Camazotz' said.

"Then you're not going to like this," 'Xnuk Ek' said, gesturing her friends over. "Look at this! I think it's jade."

"Like the jade pendant?" 'Camazotz' wondered as he slithered over. It was indeed jade. A jade bat's head, jutting out of the wall over a basin—also embedded into the wall.

"Jade is rare in these parts," Three-Monkey said. "It's usually imported for _u meyah xwaay_."

"Well maybe we can activate it!" 'Xnuk Ek' said excitedly.

'Camazotz' hesitated but then spoke. "I'm already bleeding.'

Mayan sorcery and talismans required blood to activate. Blood was considered the life-force of the universe. Using it to grease the wheels of sorcery was the only way Mayan Sorcerers knew how to activate spells.

'Camazotz' reached out with his bleeding hand and placed it on the jade bat's head. The stone head glowed green and its mouth opened. Water came pouring out into the basin.

"Water?" 'Xnuk Ek' muttered in disappointment.

"Magic water?" Three-Monkey suggested.

"Oooh! Yes!" 'Xnuk Ek' said. She cupped her talons and took a scoop of the water and pressed it to her lips.

"Nothing," she said. "I don't feel any different."

'Camazotz' hesitantly did the same and took a talon-cup full of water and pressed it to his lips. He then coughed and gagged.

"My blood," he wheezed, holding up his still bleeding talon. His companions laughed at him.

"Come on," 'Xnuk Ek' said. "Let's see if there's anything else down here."

'Xnuk Ek' and Three-Monkey turned around, to explore. Just missing the fact that their bat-faced friend's eyes were now glowing green.

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 **Guatemala, November 2, 2004**

Professor Stone was awakened by a loud crashing sound outside his tent. Quickly pulling his boots on, he ran back outside in his jimmies, holding his flashlight.

"Hello?" He asked. "Is anyone there?"

He shined his flashlight upon the six tents that contained his Grad Students for his field school. Hector emerged from his tent.

"Hector my boy!" Stone said. "You gave me quite a fright."

"My boy,' Hector said. "You gave me quite a fright"

"I'm getting jumpy in my old age," Stone said.

"I'm getting jumpy in my old age," Hector repeated.

"Hector?" Stone asked, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Are you okay," Hector repeated.

"Hector?" Stone asked, slowly starting to back away from the Grad Student. Stone's flashlight suddenly fell upon the open tent flap of Hector's tent. Stone gasped. Hector was laying upon the cot inside his tent, pale and unconscious—possibly dead—with profuse bleeding coming from his shoulder.

The thing that looked like Hector glanced back along the beam of light, and then back at Professor Stone. His eyes suddenly glowed green and shadows surrounded him, transforming into a creature from Stone's nightmares…The same serpentine bat-like form that had been bound to the altar in the tomb.

Stone turned to run, but it was no use. The creature hissed at him and lunged, biting down on Stone's shoulder as the aging professor screamed in a mix of pain and terror.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	2. Blood and Stone

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **Camazotz**

 **Guatemala, November 10th, 2004**

" _Hola Senorita_ Ragnal," the Guatemalan Customs agent said. "Welcome to Guatemala. Do you have anything to declare?"

"Oui," Fleur said. "Two statues, purchased in Japan. They are gifts for my friend Diego's birthday this Friday."

"I have to have a look, _senorita,_ " The agent said. Fleur nodded, and opened the two crates containing Sakura and Shisa's stone forms.

The customs agent's eyes widened.

"G—Gargoyle statues?" He asked.

"Purchased in Japan," Fleur said. "Don't worry…they're just statues."

"I'm afraid that the government is not taking chances where gargoyles are concerned. There are rumors…I'm afraid I have to detain you."

Fleur glanced out the window at the setting sun.

"For how long?" Fleur asked. "Diego is expecting me, and I don't want to keep him waiting."

"Until sunset," the agent said, solemnly. "I have to make sure that your statues are just that."

Fleur's face wrinkled up in a look of pure disgust usually reserved for Duval.

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 **September 22, 1548**

"This could be something!" 'Xnuk Ek' said, picking up a small bloodstone jaguar head that had been lying in the dirt.

"Camazotz," Three-Monkey called. "Got anymore blood?"

"Don't call me 'Camazotz'," the male gargoyle snapped angrily, his eyes flickering green. His companions failed to notice the odd color their' friend's eyes had flashed.

'Camazotz' looked down at his left talon, where he'd been bleeding, and frowned.

"I…I appear to be dried up, I'm afraid," he said. This was an understatement. The chiropteran-serpentine gargoyle had healed completely. There was no sign of the bleeding scratch whatsoever.

"Pity," 'Xnuk Ek' said, placing the tiny talisman into a pouch on her loincloth. "Maybe we can test it later."

"Do you think that there's anything else down here?" Three-Monkey asked.

"Well, there's still the mystery," 'Xnuk Ek' said. "What happened here? Why did the Obsidian Clan abandon this pyramid 300 years ago?"

"Brother, what do you-," 'Xnuk Ek' turned around and suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence.

Her rookery brother was leaning against the wall and looking very pale.

"Brother, are you all right?" she asked, suddenly concerned. Three-Monkey turned and looked at 'Camazotz'.

"I feel strange," he said. "And…very thirsty. My mouth is very dry."

"I saw some palmapples growing outside the pyramid," she said. "Come. They will make you feel better."

'Camazotz' nodded as she helped him over to the wall near the entrance. Three-Monkey leapt onto 'Xnuk Ek's' back the gargoyles quickly scaled the walls and climbed out of the cavern. Once outside the pyramid, 'Xnuk Ek' lopped over to the palmapple tree and plucked one of the ripe, spiny fruits.

With a swipe of her talon she tore into the giant berry, revealing the rich yellow meat within. She handed it to her brother who gratefully began consuming the fruit. He latched his mouth onto the opening of the fruit, and began sucking on it.

"That should help," 'Xnuk Ek' said. "We can fashion it into a canteen and carry water from the river."

"It tastes strange to me," 'Camazotz' said. "And my mouth is still dry."

Three-Monkey and 'Xnuk El' exchanged a glance.

"He's your brother," Three-Monkey said.

"We should go back to the clan," 'Xnuk Ek' said.

She turned to climb up the pyramid, in order to get enough height to glide from. 'Camazotz' attempted to follow, but suddenly slammed into an invisible wall.

"What?" he asked, dazed. He gingerly reached up with one talon and pressed it against the wall. A soft greenish-glow appeared where his talon touched the barrier.

"What is that?" 'Xnuk Ek' demanded.

"I do not know," 'Camazotz' responded. "But I cannot pass it."

"This is strange," Three-Monkey said, stepping past where the gargoyle was being prevented from walking.

"What is happening to me?" 'Camazotz' said. "I feel so thirsty…So ill. I can't think straight."

"Perhaps the water from the fountain did something to him?" Three-Monkey suggested walking back to the same side of the

"It didn't affect me?" the female gargoyle replied in confusion.

"What did he do that was different from what we did?" Three-Monkey picked up the discarded palmapple that 'Camazotz' had been sucking on, and frowned.

"You…drained all of the liquid from this fruit," he said suddenly. "It is dry as a bone."

Suddenly, 'Camazotz' eyes flashed green and he lunged at the human and bit down on his shoulder.

"BROTHER!" 'Xnuk Ek' screamed in shock.

Three-Monkey raised his obsidian blade, attempting to fight his attacker, but in seconds he had already lost too much blood. He was weak and woozy, not enough oxygen getting to his brain. He dropped the sword, and then collapsed. Completely drained of all his blood, he fell to the ground, dead.

'Camazotz' licked his lips and let out a satisfied burp his thirst finally quenched, before looking down upon his human friend in dawning comprehending horror of what he had just done.

"What?" he said. "No…It's not my fault…I don't…what have I done?"

"Brother?" 'Xnuk Ek' asked, still frozen in horror. "Th—Three-Monkey?"

'Camazotz' looked down at his talons. His body suddenly shifted into black shadows, which reformed and reshaped themselves.

A second later, where 'Camazotz' had stood, there now stood a perfect copy of Three-Monkey. He looked at his hands in horror, and then ran as fast as he could into the forest, away from the clan territories.

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 **Guatemala, November 3, 2004**

Obsidiana glided near the human banana plantation that marked the edge of the Green. The banana plantation had been there long before she hatched, and the clan had universally decided that it was the easternmost edge of their territory.

She had come here because she had sensed some kind of magical disturbance in the vicinity around sunset. She was sensitive to such things (having once sensed the powers of the Spear of Destiny pass through Guatemala) and feeling concerned, she had gone east to investigate.

Zafiro would have joined her, but had been waylaid when they caught the scent of machine oil to the south of them. Fearing another human logging camp had been formed, Obsidiana's mate had peeled off to investigate that possibility while she had forged on alone.

The bananas had just been harvested and the scent of their sweet fruit still lingered in the air. Obsidiana made a mental note to check one of the clan's many food garden enclaves on the way back and collect a banana or two for her own consumption.

Suddenly, she gasped. There had been a rather large hill between the banana plantation and the Green, which was why the plantation owners had never expanded into the rainforest (and thus had never before been a concern to the clan)

Or at least…Obsidiana had always assumed that it was a hill. It was clear now—thanks to a partial excavation of the hill—that it was in fact a pyramid.

"CamazotzKukulkan," she whispered to herself, remembering the clan lore about the five pyramids of the Green.

She wished that Tourquesa was here. She was the clan storykeeper. She knew the tales of why each of the other pyramids had been abandoned. Obsidiana just couldn't recall why CamazotzKukulkan had been abandoned.

Suddenly, Obsidiana heard a soft sobbing sound. She banked towards it. A small girl was standing alone in the center of the banana grove, crying wildly.

"Are you all right, _mija_?" Obsidiana asked, landing in front of the girl.

The child gasped in surprise and stepped away from the gargoyle.

"It is all right," Obsidiana said. "I will not hurt you, child."

"I am lost," she said. "I don't know how to get home."

Obsidiana considered. The clan made it a practice never to harm the locals for a reason. They had an optimistic, if somewhat unrealistic-at-the-moment hope that they might one day make peace with the humans. The clan hadn't had human allies in some 400 years, but it was never outside of the realm of possibility, as far as they were concerned.

And helping a small Mayan girl return to her home would go a long way toward that goal.

"The Mayan village is this way, child," Obsidiana said. "I can take you there. Come with me?"

"You would help me? Through the jungle?"

"Of course, _mija,_ " Obsidiana said.

"Then you would invite me into the Green? Into your protectorate?"

"Y-yes?" Obsidiana said hesitantly suddenly alarmed by the child's specific phrasing.

The small girl suddenly transformed into shadow; or at least a black mist, vaguely reminiscent of shadow, and reformed into at tall, dark green gargoyle with bat-like wings and an equally bat-like face.

"That's just what I needed to hear," he said.

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 **Guatemala, November 10th, 2004**

"The sun has been down for three hours," Fleur said glaring at the customs agent. "You should have been satisfied _then_."

"We do apologize again, Senorita Ragnal," the agents said, "We promise you that it won't happen again."

"Should hope so," Fleur said, boarding the hovercraft and imputing the coordinates of the ChacIxchel Pyramid into the navicomputer. The hovercraft took off and began heading south out of Guatemala City.

Cracks appeared along Sakura and Shisa's stone forms, and the two gargates awakened with roars, scattering shards of stone skin throughout the cabin.

"Ugh," Sakura staggered, clutching her head. "I see why Griff dislikes jet lag so much."

"Yes," Fleur said, stepping out of the hovercraft cockpit. "Well that jet lag saved our skins. The Guatemalan customs officials were not quite convinced that the two of you were just statues. It's going to get harder to start transporting gargoyles across international borders if that keeps up."

"Good evening, Queen Blanchefleur," Sakura said, bowing respectfully.

"Don't need to be so formal with me, Dame Sakura," Fleur said, smiling and bowing back. "I've had more than enough 'formalities' in my life."

"Where is Dame Parvati?" Sakura asked.

Fleur rolled her eyes. "That's how you know she's really a cat at heart. She's back in the back. She slept through the whole bloody ordeal."

Sakura smirked.

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 **Guatemala, November 10th, 2004**

The hovercraft came for a landing in the clearing next to ChacIxchel Pyramid. Jade and Zafiro immediately came running out of the pyramid, eyes glowing white, only to calm down immediately upon seeing the Pendragon Crest on the side of the craft.

Zafiro flared his wings and glided down to the base of the pyramid, while Jade herded the hatchlings back into the temple.

"You came!" Zafiro exclaimed as Fleur, Sakura, Parvati, and Shisa stepped out of the craft.

"We did promise that we would, should you ever need us, Zafiro," Fleur said.

 _"Si_ ," Zafiro said. "But saying that you are going to do something, and actually doing it are quite different. Our clan's experiences with humans have been…mixed at best."

"Arthur's Knights are not all human," Fleur said. "This is Sakura, of the Ishimuran Clan…"

Sakura bowed. "An honor to meet of, Zafiro of the Mayan Clan."

"…And Parvati. A Bengal Tiger capable of transforming into a human."

"I am also honored," Parvati said. "My experiences with gargoyles tend to be more pleasant than those with humans. No offense, Queen Fleur."

"How am I not supposed to take offense to that?" Fleur asked, looking at Parvati sideways. "I'm literally one of the only humans you know?"

"I am also honored to meet you," Zafiro said. "If only the timing were better. But we are in desperate straights. The Dark Gargoyle hunts us."

"The 'Dark' Gargoyle?" Sakura asked.

"A horrid creature," Zafiro said. "Imprisoned within an ancient pyramid for 500 years. A gargoyle who is only half alive, and so cannot die. Feeding upon the blood of the living."

"You're talking about a vampire gargoyle?" Fleur asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That's not…Possible. Vampirism cannot jump species."

"I know of your European Vampire myths," Zafiro said. "They are very similar to the Dark Gargoyle. But while the human-vampire is unable to enter the thresholds of the houses of the living…The Dark Gargoyle cannot enter the protectorate of a gargoyle clan without the expressed permission of a living member of the clan."

"Which unfortunately," Jade said. "Obsidiana unwittingly gave him."

"Jade," Zafiro said, turning towards his friend. "You are supposed to be atop the pyramid, watching the hatchlings."

"She gave it to him, of course," Jade said, suddenly smiling. "Because the creature is capable of changing shape to match that of anything that it has fed upon."

'Jade' suddenly burst into shadowy mist and transformed into the serpentine-chiropteran gargoyle form.

"Actually," he said, smiling wickedly, eyes glowing green. "I prefer the name…'Camazotz' to 'The Dark Gargoyle'."

He lunged forward and bit down on Sakura's shoulder, catching the Ishimuran Gargoyle completely off guard, and biting down, hard.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	3. Stone and Spirit

**Gargoyles: Pendragon**

 **Camazotz**

 **Guatemala, November 10th, 2004**

Sakura gritted her teeth as Camazotz bit down on her shoulder. Wincing through the pain, she reached down and drew her katana, sliding it out of its sheath, and then slashing it across her attacker's belly.

Camazotz staggered back. He smiled and the wound in his belly vanished. His body erupted into shadows before changing shape into that of Sakura's.

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at her doppelganger.

Camazotz-in-Sakura-form held up her talon, tucking her thumb behind her palm.

"That's three little pendant-bearers that I have captured. You're next Zafiro," he said.

Camazotz shifted shape again, transforming into a jaguar and bounded off into the forest.

"Are you all right, Sakura?" Fleur asked, rushing to the gargoyle's side.

"Nothing that stone sleep won't cure," Sakura said dismissively.

"I have some plants that will stop the bleeding," Zafiro said. "And prevent infection."

"Very well," Sakura said. "But then we must begin the hunt, before the trail grows cold."

"You have a plan for dealing with that creature, I take it?" Fleur asked.

"Shisa can track it," Sakura said. "I take Zafiro with me, because he is the creature's next target and he knows this jungle. You and Parvati remain behind to protect the gargoyle hatchlings."

"A good plan," Fleur said.

"I will watch over them as if they were my own kits," Parvati said.

"Don't use up any of your time in tiger form unless Camazotz is right on top of you,"

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 **September 23, 1548**

'Xnuk Ek' clutched the body of her human friend Three-Monkey, the only one who ever called her 'Xnuk Ek'. It meant 'evening star'.

She couldn't believe what had happened. She didn't understand why her rookery brother had done this thing to her human friend. Certainly, they had never gotten along, but this…this was something different. Something was very seriously _wrong_ with her rookery brother.

The sun rose over the horizon and froze her in stone, still clutching her friend's remains.

When the sun set the following night, the young female gargoyle awakened with a roar. Her eyes flickered red with anger. She bent down and picked up Three-Monkey's obsidian blade. She then stormed off into the jungle.

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 **November 11, 2004**

"What is the extent of this creature's powers?" Sakura asked Zafiro, as Shisa sniffed the ground ahead of them.

"I know not the full extent," Zafiro admitted. "But I can tell you what I do know. He cannot be killed by conventional methods; our clan has tried in the distant past. It is why they imprisoned him beneath CamazotzKukulkan Pyramid."

"He can change shape, into anything that he has fed upon." Zafiro continued. "And may not enter a Clan Protectorate without the expressed permission of a living member of the clan. It is why I know _mi amor_ ; Obsidiana still lives despite the fact that she was the first one this creature grabbed. She granted the original invitation. It would be rescinded if she died."

"You said he was a gargoyle?" Sakura asked. Shisa continued to sniff along the ground in front of them.

"Once, perhaps," Zafiro admitted. "Now he is little more than a wild animal."

"Does he still turn to stone?" Sakura said.

" _Si_ ," Zafiro answered. "Normally, anyway. He has appropriated the pendants of my clan mates. It will prevent his transformation just as they would ours. But when the pendants are removed and he does become stone; that is his weakness. He will always turn to stone, no matter what form he has assumed. Any blood he has consumed at that point is…absorbed into his life-force and digested. He will lose the ability to transform into those shapes."

"What if he does not consume any blood?" Sakura asked.

"Then he will remain stone until he has," Zafiro said. "That is what happened. He was imprisoned beneath the pyramid CamazotzKukulkan until last week, when a human archeology team opened up his prison, and unwittingly fed his stone form blood."

"Then our goal is clear," Sakura said. "We must reclaim the pendants, and then st—Where did Shisa go?"

The two gargoyles stopped, having suddenly realized that the red beast had vanished. A moment later, the giant red beast came tearing around the corner, bounding towards them.

"Oh," Zafiro said, visibly relaxing.

Sakura on the other hand immediately drew her katana and stabbed the red beast as it drew close.

"Why?!" Zafiro started to ask, until the beast suddenly erupted into black shadows and resumed his true form.

The serpentine gargoyle gasped.

"I could see the three pendants," Sakura glared.

"I'm impressed, _mija_ ," Camazotz said, smirking. "But it will do you no good."

"We shall see," Sakura said, and lunged at the vampiric gargoyle, skewering him on her sword, and then sliding forward and punching him hard in the face. Zafiro lunged at the gargoyle, attempting to take advantage of the creature's seeming disadvantage.

To no avail. Camazotz grabbed both gargoyles by the neck and lifted them up into the air, rearing up on the very tip of his tail. He then slammed the two gargoyles down onto the ground, rendering them unconscious.

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 **September 23, 1548**

The red-skinned female had little difficulty finding her bat-like rookery brother. Indeed, he was all too easy to find. Standing in the center of the Mayan village to the north of the CamazotzKukulkan pyramid, gorging himself upon the blood of the villagers. Many of them had fled into the jungle. Only the old sorcerer Five-Dog, and his apprentice Six-Jaguar remained behind, attempting to use Mayan sorcery to repel whatever 'Camazotz' had become.

 _Because he certainly wasn't a gargoyle anymore,_ she thought, gliding down and landing behind her former rookery brother.

"Sister?" He said, dropping the villager he had been feeding on. Blood dripped from his fangs, and he looked at her helplessly. "What is happening to me? The thirst is almost unquenchable."

"You have become a monster, Brother," 'Xnuk Ek' said, raising Three-Monkey's obsidian sword. "And you must be destroyed."

"I'm not sure that I can be destroyed," he replied. "The voice…He doesn't think so. And my thoughts…they do not feel like my own. They feel…Different."

"You killed Three-Monkey!" she spat bitterly. "He was our _friend_ and you slaughtered him like a tapir."

"I…I know, I don't know why I…" her brother stammered. "It doesn't matter. He was only a human. They are inferior."

" _K'aak heets'a'an!_ " Five-Dog yelled, fire erupting from his staff and lashing out like an enormous flaming whip, striking the vampiric gargoyle.

"ARRRRRRGGGGHHH!" he roared, his eyes glowing green.

"Not so inferior, now, eh?" Five-Dog snapped.

Angrily, Camazotz turned to face the aging sorcerer. His eyes glowed green and he lunged. This gave his sister the opportunity she needed. She lunged forward and struck her former brother in the back, slicing down a diagonal line between his bat-like wings.

"Betray me, SISTER?" He yelled, striking her backhandedly with his arm. She went flying into the side of a hut, her pouch had tumbled loose from her loincloth, and the tiny bloodstone jaguar head that she had picked up in the pyramid chamber tumbled out into the dirt. Six-Jaguar, Five-Dog's apprentice ran over and picked up the talisman.

"We will not allow this outrage!" Camazotz snarled. "We will punish you for this!"

"We?" she replied in confusion. "Brother, you must reclaim yourself! Something is happening in your mind. You must fight it!"

"We don't want to fight it," he said, flaring his wings, and grabbing a hold of Five-Dog, lifting him up, and biting into his shoulder. Blood spurted out from the wound, and hit the bloodstone talisman in Six-Jaguar's hand. It glowed, and he transformed into a black jaguar.

Surprised he glanced down at his paws and saw the talisman on the ground between them.

"We want to embrace it!" Camazotz said tossing the remains of the wizard aside. "And we want you to join us sister! We want you!"

"And I want my brother and my friend back," she said, glaring him down, determinedly. Her eyes flickered red. "Neither of us shall claim our wishes this night."

She signaled the jaguar, and in a flash, the two of them pounced at Camazotz from either side.

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 **November 11, 2004**

Sakura groaned, slowly awakening, she looked around. She, and all four adult members of the Mayan Clan were sitting or lying unconscious atop a pyramid. It wasn't ChacIxchel. This pyramid was made of black onyx and was partially buried in dirt. It was also taller than ChacIxchel. She glanced at the eastern sky. It was very bright. Dawn would be breaking very soon.

The five gargoyles were all bound by thick looking vines. Shisa was also bound, and hogtied nearby. The Ishimuran beast growled at Camazotz, but the bat-like gargoyle ignored him.

"Ah good," he said. "You're all awake."

Sakura noticed the Jade, Sapphire, Obsidian and Turquoise pendants around his neck. She saw her katana lying of to the side, near the stairs. She felt along her _obi_ and then smiled to herself. Quietly she pulled out one of the shuriken that she had tucked away in her belt, grateful that the vampiric gargoyle hadn't searched her thoroughly.

"Clearly we all live," Zafiro said. "So the question becomes 'Why have you taken us here?'"

"And what do you want?" Sakura asked, quietly sawing her bindings with her shuriken.

"What I want, is my SISTER!" Camazotz demanded. "Where is she? I want her to join me. We can rule the night together!"

The gargoyles all exchanged a glance.

"You have been bound beneath this pyramid, for five hundred years," Zafiro said. "Any rookery siblings that you might have had their Wind Ceremonies years ago. None of them live."

"I would know if she was dead," Camazotz said, glaring. "My sleep, my dreams for the past 500 years have been plagued by the Nine Lords of Death. If my sister had died, they would have tormented me with the knowledge. They haven't, she hasn't, so somewhere upon this earth, my sister still lives, and I WANT her."

"I know the one you speak of," Turquesa said quietly.

"Ah," Camazotz said, smiling wickedly, and slithering towards Turquesa. Jade's eyes glowed white as his protective instincts flared up in reaction to this disturbing creature approaching his mate.

"I knew that one of you four had to be the clan storekeeper," he said, smiling. "Where is my sister?"

"The one who bound you beneath the pyramid, _si?_ " Turquesa asked. "She helped forge an alliance with humans against the Spanish Conquistadores five hundred years ago. She then left the clan with two gargoyles from far away clans, because she had fallen in love with one of them. She was never seen again."

"Are you certain?" Camazotz said. "She left the clan? Left me?"

Turquesa said nothing more.

"You lie!" Camazotz snarled angrily.

"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't," Sakura said slicing through the last vine that had been binding her. She picked up her katana, and drew it.

Camazotz barely had time to react before Sakura hurled three shuriken at him, forcing him away from Turquesa. He snarled and yanked the shuriken from his neck and chest. The wounds healed instantly.

"But you really oughtn't be focused on your long-dust rookery sister," she said, smiling and gently rubbing her talon along the dull side of her sword. "You should be focused on the _tengu_ who intends to slice your head off."

"You can't defeat me in the few minutes remaining before dawn!" Camazotz snarled.

"Perhaps you are correct," Sakura said, she flared her wings and leapt towards Camazotz. The vampire gargoyle raised his arms to defend himself, but Sakura instead dove low, and snatched up the sapphire pendant from the ground next to the vampire.

"Guess I should buy myself some extra time!" she said, dangling the pendant in front of her. She turned and leapt off of the pyramid, gliding away from Camazotz as the stunned gargoyle looked at the three pendants around his neck.

He roared angrily and launched himself after Sakura. The two gargoyles were now in an aerial chase. Sakura was faster, and far more agile. She spun around and hurled her last three shuriken.

Camazotz attempted to dodge, but failed so miserably that he flew into the path of the metal stars, instead of away from it. The Obsidian and Turquoise pendants fell from his neck and Sakura snatched them right out of the air.

"How dare you!" Camazotz roared, and dove after her. Sakura glanced back and saw the vampire gargoyle gaining on her. She also saw something else.

Ever the acrobatic glider, she did a backwards somersault through the air, and spun towards the serpentine gargoyle, landing right on his chest, and digging in her two-toed hind talons into said chest. He let out a roar of pain.

"I win," Sakura said, smirking.

"What?" Camazotz snarled. Sakura pointed east at the rising sun. Camazotz instinctively followed her finger and looked at the sun. Sakura snatched up the Jade pendant and launched herself off of Camazotz chest, away from him.

Too late did the Dark Gargoyle realize what Sakura had just done. She had taken all four pendants. Stone sleep crept up his body from his snake-like tail up into his bat-like face in a matter of seconds. The stone vampire-gargoyle tumbled out of the sky, and crashed into the field at the center of the banana plantation, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"God that was _FUN!_ " Sakura exclaimed, gliding up to the top of CamazotzKukulkan where Shisa and the four Mayan Gargoyles were still tied up by vines, but now were also stone.

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 **September 29, 1548**

"Sister, you can't keep me here!" Camazotz snarled angrily, struggling against the thick leather bindings holding him to the table.

"Can and will," Ya'ax said, gingerly touching the sapphire pendant now hanging around her neck.

"I am Ya'ax, now," she said. "Keeper of the sapphire pendant. Box and Ya'ax—I mean the elder—who granted me this pendant, feel I should be Second. I do not feel such. My curiosity cost you and Three-Monkey your lives."

"But at least _this_ thing will never curse another," Ya'ax said, digging her talons into the jade fountain in the wall, and ripping it out, and ripping it apart, until it was nothing more than an ugly indentation in the wall.

"You've not been fed this night," Ya'ax said, turning her attention to him. "With no blood, you will not awaken again at sunset. And I will seal the tomb. You will remain stone within this pit forever."

"We will find you, sister!" Camazotz said, struggling vainly against the thick leather chords. "We will make you suffer for this indignity."

"Goodbye brother," she said tearfully. She climbed out of the chamber. Box—The Clan Leader—and the Clan Elder who had formerly been Ya'ax helped her seal the tomb up, while Six-Jaguar placed warning glyphs on top of the door.

"I still don't understand how this happened," Six-Jaguar said.

"The Obsidian Pendant Bearer—Not this one, the one who used to lead this clan—was a sorcerer obsessed with claiming immortality," The Elder said. "He cast many spells, and sought many magics to claim that goal. He used enchanted water, brought to him long ago from a hidden spring far to the north, in an attempt to create that immortality. But mixing magics is always dangerous. It turned him into a blood drinking monster. Eventually, our ancestors were able to slay him using his own sorcery. Sorcery that has been lost since that battle. The clan abandoned the pyramid after the battle, and brought the Obsidian Pendant to ChacIxchel."

"He can't get out of there, right?" Ya'ax asked, bending down and gently touching the door.

"Not unless someone ignores the warnings on the door, opens the tomb, and feeds him," Box said.

"Then we must make sure that that never comes to pass," the Elder said.

"Agreed," Ya'ax and Six-Jaguar said.

"Your talisman, Ya'ax," Six-Jaguar said, offering the bloodstone jaguar head back to Ya'ax.

"Keep it," she said. "I want no mementos or reminders of this night."

"As you wish," Six-Jaguar replied.

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 **November 12, 2004**

"You missed all of the fun, Parvati," Sakura said, sharpening her blade. "This is why I became a Knight. I live for this kind of excitement."

"Taking care of kits, and protecting them _is_ my idea of fun, Sakura," Parvati said. "I was glad to protect the cubs of the Mayan Clan. It is reward enough for me, and makes me glad that _I_ became a knight."

"And we are grateful to both of you," Zafiro said. "If not for both of you, our clan would have been doomed."

"One thing troubles me still, though," Sakura said, frowning.

" _Que?_ "

"Your clan has possessed the amulets for over a thousand years. If shattering the creature was enough to destroy it for good? Why have you never done so before?"

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 **November 13, 2004**

Dracula picked up the stone head of Camazotz from the forest floor.

"Alas, poor Camazotz," he said. "I knew him Erzsébeth. A gargoyle of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."

"If you're done quoting Shakespeare?" Dracula's female companion, Erzsébeth Báthory said. Behind the two of the stood Quong Po, a Chinese _Jiangxi_.

"Quickly Báthory," he said. "Before the blue-gargoyle senses our presence. My veil will not last forever. Especially in this place where so many magics dwell beneath the forest canopy."

"Quickly what?" Erzsébeth demanded.

"Your snack, my child. Your snack."

"Again?" she demanded indignantly.

"This one won't require the whole thing," Dracula said. "Just a few drops of blood."

Båthory took a knife and dripped a few droplets into the mouth of the stone head. Cracks appeared along it, and along all the shattered pieces upon the ground around them. Reverting to flesh and breaking through a layer of stone skin much like a living gargoyle might.

They all burst into shadowy mist and flowed together, reforming into the shape of a sixteen year old girl from the catholic school in the town nearest the Mayan Clan's territory. It then resumed the form of Camazotz.

"That was painful," Camzotz muttered.

"Would you like some revenge?" Dracula offered. "Say the word, and we will destroy the Mayan brood where they roost."

"Nay," Camazotz snarled. "Revenge is for fools. I want my sister. I _know_ she isn't dead. I must find her. I must make her like myself."

"At last," Dracula said, placing a hand over his own heart. " _At last_ a gargoyle after my own heart. Where were _you_ six hundred years ago? I know of a gargoyle clan with the best stocked library in the world. If anyone knows where your sister might be in this modern age…it would be in their library."

"I may not enter the protectorate of any Clan without the expressed permission of a living member of that Clan," Camazotz said.

"Then our first order of business is simple," Dracula said, smiling. "We must secure you an invitation."

 _ **Never The End…**_


End file.
